ALEPPO: Syrian government forces secured full control of Aleppo on Sunday after taking over the city’s Kurdish neighbourhoods and evacuating fighters to northeastern Kurdish-controlled areas following days of clashes. Residents of the Ashrafiyeh neighbourhood began returning to their homes, finding shrapnel, broken glass, and looted properties.
Read More: Last Kurdish fighters withdraw from Aleppo after clashes
The violence erupted earlier this week after negotiations stalled over integrating the Kurds’ de facto autonomous administration and forces into Syria’s government. In the Sheikh Maqsud neighbourhood, the Syrian army evacuated 419 Kurdish fighters, including 59 wounded, to Kurdish-controlled zones in the northeast. Hundreds of citizens gathered in the city of Qamishli to greet the returning fighters, vowing revenge for the conflict.
🇸🇾 ALEPPO, Syria .
Aleppo is now fully under Syrian government control. The last SDF fighters have departed the city.
📹 Footage shows buses transporting SDF personnel from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood toward northeastern Syria.
Syrian state TV reported late Saturday that the… pic.twitter.com/VG5ETkMdR8— Jamal Amin (@JamalibnAmin) January 11, 2026
Syrian authorities reported that 300 other Kurds, including fighters and domestic security personnel, were arrested. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that many of those detained were civilians, not combatants. Kurdish leader Mazlum Abdi stated the evacuation was “through the mediation of international parties to stop the attacks and violations against our people in Aleppo.”
In Ashrafiyeh, returning residents faced damaged walls, disrupted utilities, and looted homes. Yahya al-Sufi, a clothing seller, said he had fled during the clashes and now aimed to repair his home. Authorities barred residents from returning to Sheikh Maqsud, where burnt vehicles, ammunition, and landmines were removed during combing operations.
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The Syrian Interior Ministry reported a toll of 24 dead and 129 wounded since last Tuesday, while the Observatory said 45 civilians and 60 fighters and soldiers were killed on both sides. Allegations of field executions and the burning of bodies in Sheikh Maqsud by government forces have emerged, though these claims have not been independently verified. Amid the destruction, some residents expressed hope for reconciliation, saying, “There’s no Arab, no Kurd, we’re all Syrians.”